Many "cheapie" freight cars can be upgraded, using either commercially available detail parts or scratchbuilt alternatives. In my opinion, even many of those expensive models, either kits or r-t-r, can benefit from some similar upgrades, too. While lots of my freight cars were bought many years ago, many of these same cars are still available, especially as "used" items, where they're even cheaper.
I'm modelling the late-'30s, but there are suitably cheap cars available for most eras, although many models of current-day prototypes
do tend to be a bit more expensive.
A good resource for doing this type of work is photographs of the cars you wish to replicate. For me, the excellent "Essential Freight Cars" series in RMC magazine is a good source of inspiration, even though author Ted Culotta's chosen era is 1947. I seldom bother to make cars that are exact duplicates, as "close enough" is sufficient for my purposes, but more accurate models generally require only more work (pleasure) to accomplish, with little increase in dollar outlay.
I was lucky to pick up a dozen or so of these Walthers 50' boxcars at my LHS for about $6.00 each - 3 or 4 were lettered for various roads, while the rest were undecorated. I added wire steps and grabirons to all, along with some basic brake gear, then lettered the undecs for my own free-lance road, and weathered all. Not counting the custom lettering, about an additional $1.50 for Kadees and wire, per car:
I got a bunch of these Train Miniature cars for about $2.00 each (used), then spent about double that per car to upgrade them with new ends, reworked doors, steps, grabirons, brake gear, and Kadees.
I have dozens of these Train Miniature (now Walthers) ARA boxcars. Their low roofline adds prototypical interest to any train from the 1920s into the early '70s, and they can be had for next-to-nothing: I recently bought 3 or 4 kits, unmade, from the LHS, for about $4.00 each. I thin (using an autobody file) or replace the roofwalks, rework the doors and doortracks, and add metal steps and grabirons. Some get new brake gear and all get new paint and lettering. Dollar-wise, the most costly upgrade is a pair of Kadees, and the lettering:
Same car, with doubledoors:
And again, as a door-and-a-half car:
And with a revised side sill:
As a U.P. version:
This one is a TM plugdoor boxcar, with a new door cemented right over the carved-down details of the original:
Same plugdoor car, this time re-done as a doubledoor car:
Here's a Tyco 36' doublesheathed reefer ($.98 off the "used" table at the LHS). I added body-mounted Kadees, and some trucks from my parts supply, along with metal grabs and steps:
Here's a Red Caboose Pennsy X-29 boxcar - the kit is normally around $25.00 to $30.00 dollars, but I picked up several at under $10.00 each. I replaced all of the kit's plastic grabirons and steps with metal parts, and made several other "improvements". Paint and lettering added a few dollars, but the finished cars were still well below the regular cost:
Train Miniature also offered the X-29, at about $4.00 per kit, originally. With a little work, they can look just as good as the Red Caboose version:
They can also be kitbashed into the X-28 automobile car version, too:
This is a shake-the-box Accurail kit, about $10.00 around here. I replaced the steps and grabs with metal parts, then added paint and lettering, plus some rudimentary brake gear:
Train Miniature also offered the same USRA double sheathed car, although their version had sides that were too low (same height as the steel cars shown earlier) and incorrect ends. I scribed the moulded-on side sills to represent sheathing, then added new sills made from strip styrene, correcting the car's height. The new ends and doors are from Tichy, along with a scratchbuilt underframe and metal steps and grabs. While the upgrades doubled the original $4.00 cost of the car, the details stand up well in comparison to the Accurail cars, which were released several years later.
Here's an Athearn steel reefer - I picked up two from the "used" table at the LHS for about $2.00 each. Both had missing sill steps and were battered and dirty, although both
did have Kadees. :-D I stripped the paint and used photos and drawings from RMC to assist in building them into original versions of CNR's 8 hatch overhead ice bunker cars. To be honest, they look better than brass versions that are available at the LHS for in excess of $100.00, although admittedly, my versions are of more recent construction.
In short, you can build a reasonable roster of cars for your chosen era at a reasonable cost. You
do need to know what's available and to also know what you want to replicate - making a doubledoor car from a singledoor version is an example. The level of detail is up to the individual, and while there are many detail parts available, each modeller's skill will determine if you need to buy or fabricate that particular detail, or perhaps eliminate it from your requirements altogether. Prototype photos are a definite help (and for me, a good source of inspiration). While several of my cars are very good representations of their prototypes, most are merely stand-ins - "good enough" to suit my standards, budget, skills, and time constraints. I generally prefer to invest more time and skill than money, so it helps to know where to look for bargains, too. I have many "gems" that my wife found at garage sales, usually for less than $.25. :thumb:
Wayne